The Saiyan and the Avenger
by Mutrox
Summary: In the midst of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Goku returns to the Hidden Leaf Village for lunch. But Lady Tsunade has an important favor to ask, and Naruto is in desperate need of a friend (A sequel to "The Saiyan and the Whiner")
1. The Hokage's Burden

Characters swam in front of Tsunade's eyes, momentarily obscured by her eyelids as they relentlessly struggled to drift shut. For a moment, the papers slipped out of her grasp. Tsunade made no effort to catch them as they drifted onto her desk.

"Shizune, is it done brewing yet?" she called.

"It just finished, Lady Tsunade!" Shizune rushed into the Hokage's office. In her hands, between a pair of thick oven mitts, rested a steaming pot of coffee. "I'm sorry, we're out of anything to put in it."

"It's fine." Tsunade picked up the pot with her bare hand. Lifting the lid, she drank straight from the vessel, ignoring the stares of the ANBU agents passing the open door. "Thank you, Shizune," she said when she'd finished. "How much more is there?"

Shizune shut the door. "There's another stack of war reports over there," she said, indicating a thick pile on the left side of Tsunade's desk. "Also… these just came in." She stepped forward and produced a series of files from under her arm. Sighing, Tsunade took another swing of coffee before accepting them and opening to the first page.

A familiar face stared back at her from the stark pages in her hands. Beneath the photo was a list of known abilities gathered from numerous field reports. Tsunade's heart sank as she saw the list had grown again, this time almost stretching to the bottom of the page.

The next few pages contained summaries of different after-action reports. To Tsunade's dismay, the number of casualties now stretched into the quintuple digits. Innumerable crimes flooded the pages, each more heinous than the last. Other sections of the report concerned the crimes of his accomplices, but they often paled in comparison.

"Shizune…" she said wearily. "Why can't this all just be over?"

"I wish it could be, Lady Tsunade. But no war ends in just a few days, and the Fourth Shinobi World War isn't a normal war."

Tsunade raised the coffee pot, but set it back down without drinking as she sat back in her chair. "Still, I would have hoped we would have crushed the Pale Army by now. Maybe we would have if it hadn't been for Kabuto's Deathless Legion." She rubbed her forehead. "Any news from the other Kage?"

Shizune checked her notes. "Lord Raikage is holding the line at Ishimura Fortress, but he reports that his troops can only do so much, and the enemy is adapting to his new 'thunderclap' move. Lord Gaara remains vigilant in the desert, but the enemy is using fire jutsu to fuse all of the sand into glass. Lord Onoki and the Thundering Fury are fending off the Deathless Legion in the mountains. And Lady Terumi has not yet returned from her honeymoon."

"When will that woman have enough?" Tsunade muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. Her gaze drifted out of the window, imagining she could almost hear the booms that accompanied the flashes in the distance. Out loud, she said, "I've never believed the Five Great Nations would truly fall, let alone in our lifetimes. Even when the first blow was struck, I thought we could end it all in a day, two at the most. But 8 months? How can we withstand another week of this, let alone win?

"I don't know, Lady Tsunade," Shizune said. "But you were made Hokage for a reason. When the people look to you, they know you have the power to guide them through the darkness."

"I wish I had the power they think I do, but right now I haven't the faintest idea of how the village is going to survive this war. Not win, survive. If we can't find some way to-"

"LADY HOKAGE!" Without warning, an ANBU agent burst into the room. "He's back!"

Tsunade's head snapped around. "Where is he?"

"Ichiraku's. He just ordered their new dish, but he looks hungry!"

Tsunade grabbed the picture from the file she'd been reading and ran out the door after the ANBU agent. "Hurry, Shizune! We can't let him get away!"


	2. The Hero of the Hidden Leaf

_FWEET!_

Goku lowered his hand from his forehead. Taking in a deep breath, he looked around. Before him lay a crowded street of the Hidden Leaf Village. Merchants sold goods as before. Citizens walked and swept and carried supplies in every direction, occasionally casting a fearful glance into the distance. Above, a housewife beat a rug into cleanliness with a single kick. Below, an old man on a bench reached over and petted a sleeping nineko curled up next to a ninja hound, calmly eating a rice ball as he watched a pair of friends playfully arguing at the counter in a restaurant across the street. From the next street over came a loud "I TOLD YOU I'M NOT FAT!", followed by a loud crash.

As Goku took in the scene, two children chasing a puppy ran out of an alley and turned toward him. The girl in the lead reached out to grab the puppy's tale, but tripped on a rock and plunged toward the dirt.

"Whoa, there!" Goku dashed forward, effortlessly catching the child and returning her to her feet. "That could have been nasty.

The girl's eyes widened. A brilliant smile spread across her face. "GOKU!"

Up and down the street, heads turned and faces broke into excited grins as everyone recognized the Hero of the Hidden Leaf.

"Hey, Goku's back!"

"Goku! Where have you been?"

"Good to see you, Goku!"

"Come have dinner with us! My husband is a great cook!"

"Goku, will you marry me _now_?"

"Hi, everybody!" Goku laughed. "It's great to be back!" Waving and greeting everyone around him, Goku, slowly made his way down the street toward his destination.

Word spread like wildfire throughout the village. "Hey, guys! Goku's back!" A citizen yelled into the Nara household. "Finally, something that isn't a drag," Shikamaru said, standing up from his desk full of war maps.

Elsewhere, a runner dashed out of the Hyuuga stronghold with several Hyuuga in tow. "Goku's here! Spread the word!" She called to another woman sprinting across the rooftops.

"Got it!" The woman broke off and ran in another direction.

Beneath the hospital, another messenger burst into Sakura and Ino's makeshift lab. "Goku just came back!"

Ino dropped her clipboard. "He is? How does my hair look?" She turned to her reflection in a lab table and started frantically running her fingers through her hair.

"Don't waste your time," Sakura said, switching off her equipment. "Goku doesn't notice that stuff, and even if he did, he's probably taken already."

"Shut up, Billboard-Brow!" Ino shouted, running off before Sakura could reply.

Gradually, Goku made his way through the smiling crowd to Ichiraku's. As he ducked under the entryway, a woman at the full counter gladly offered her stool to him. "Thanks!" Goku said, taking a seat.

Teuchi appeared from the back. "Good to see you again, Goku!"

"Good to be back, Teuchi!" Goku said. "Hope you've got plenty of ramen, 'cause I just finished training, and I'm REALLY hungry!" Three large diamonds clattered onto the counter and the words left him.

Teuchi's smile widened. "I was hoping you'd say that. Give me a minute." He disappeared into the back again, only to return a moment later. In his arms rested a gigantic ramen bowl, measuring a full meter across and piled so high it looked like it would fall over at any second. "What do you think? I call it my brand-new Saiyan-sized Ramen Bowl!"

Goku's face lit up. "AWESOME!" The bowl hit the counter. Goku's chopsticks hit the bowl. "That was great! Another one, please!"

The crowd watched in silence. "That one lasted 3 whole seconds!" Somebody said.

One by one, the gigantic bowls piled up at Goku's elbow as the crowd stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. Ino elbowed her way through to the front, adjusting her hair as she waited for Goku to turn in her direction. As she did, a splotch of sauce flew out of somewhere and landed on her head. "Guess he noticed after all," Sakura grinned as Ino fumed.

From seemingly nowhere, a friendly hand smacked Goku on the back. "Goku, it's good to see that big, ridiculous hair again!"

Goku set down another empty bowl. "Hey, Gai! How's the training going?"

"It's going great! How about when you're done here, we head out and experience the fires of youth in rigorous punching and kicking once more?"

"That sounds-"

"Alright, that's enough everyone!" A stern voice at the back of the crowd cut him off. "You can talk to Goku later!"

"Looks like Lady Hokage wants a word with you," Gai said. "Well, don't you worry, Goku! You can show me your new stuff later!" He turned to go.

"Hey, hold on a sec!" Goku reached into his pocket and produced a small cloth bag. "I got those senzu beans I promised you. Sorry again about them not being able to grow here.

"Thanks a million, Goku!" Gai said, accepting the bag. "I'll put these to good use, just you wait and see!" Before he could elaborate, Tsunade appeared through the crowd.

"Back to business, everyone!" she said to the crowd. "Goku will still be around for awhile! Go back to what you were doing!"

One by one, the crowd dispersed, many promising to talk to Goku when he was done. At last, they were gone, and Tsunade took a stool next to Goku.

"Well, hi Tsunade!" Goku said cheerfully, slurping a noodle. "What have you been up to?"

Tsnuade didn't return Goku's smile as she rested her hands on the counter. "I've been busy, Goku. Remember that war I told you about last time? It happened."

"Really? You're lucky. I don't think I've ever fought in a war. I mean, there was this one time I beat up a whole army, but that was when I was a kid."

Tsunade blinked. "My point is…" She lowered her voice. "I need your help."

"Huh?"

Tsunade slipped him the picture from the file. "Does he look familiar to you?"

Goku studied the picture. "Not really. Who is he?"

"His name is Sasuke Uchiha. He's a former Leaf shinobi, but now he fights for the enemy. A few years ago he betrayed his friends and ran off the train under one of the most vile ninja the Leaf ever produced. Now, he's running wild across the nations, murdering, destroying, all in the name of avenging some perceived wrong by slaughtering the Hidden Leaf and all her allies.

Goku swallowed. "That's awful!"

"It gets worse. As an Uchiha, Sasuke has a set of powerful eyes that give him access to jutsu the rest of us can't even attempt. Every time we try to take him down, he uses these jutsu to kill our forces before they can even get close to him. And with each battle, his power grows immeasurably."

"WHERE IS HE?" A harsh voice demanded. "GOKU!" Neji burst into Ichiraku's.

"Oh hey, you're that blind guy from before, right?" Goku asked.

"I TOLD YOU, I'M NOT BLIND, YOU SPIKY-HAIRED SIMPLETON!" Neji shouted. "Look, never mind that. Whatever you do, you must stop Sasuke, no matter what it takes. The bastard can't live after what he's done."

"What did he do?" Goku asked, but Neji had already ducked out.

"I hope you'll forgive Neji," Tsunade apologized. "He has a good reason to be angrier than usual about Sasuke, and I can't blame him."

"Big Brother Goku!" Konohamaru ran into Ichiraku's, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Oh, hi Konohamaru!" Goku said. "Did you grow since the last time I saw you?"

Konohamaru's red, distraught eyes gazed up into Goku's, welling. "You have to help Big Brother Naruto! He needs you!"

"He does?" Goku asked, concern spreading across his face.

"I'm afraid so," Tsunade confirmed, her shoulders slumping as her eyes drifted downward. "Naruto hasn't been himself for some time, and no one in the village can seem to help him. Every day, he seems to slip further and further into the darkness, and I don't like to think about what will happen if he can't be cheered up, and soon.

"He's really that sad?" Goku asked in disbelief. "What happened?

Tsunade cast a glance toward the flashes in the distance. "It's… it's probably best if you hear it from him."


	3. Confession

Clouds hung low in the still, grim sky, blanketing the world above in a mantle of grey and stealing the sun before it reached the ground. No wind blew across the land. No wildlife made a sound. Bright flashes reflected off the surrounding landscape, booms and crashes tearing at the unmoving air. Goku turned away from the angry waves of dust and dirt that barreled toward him, shielding the food with his body as best he could. Shifting his grip, he continued up the hill. Reaching the top, he scanned his surroundings.

Before him lay a vast field of soft earth. Once, it had probably been a beautiful stretch of land perfect for picnics and lazy afternoons, but now almost no grass remained. Hundreds of craters pick pocketed the field, many of them smoking and filling with falling dust. Shattered rocks, splintered trees, and other debris littered the landscape.

Across the land raged a small, bright-orange army. Dozens of Narutos blazed at each other, crashing and blasting and punching and screaming in an endless storm of fury. As Goku watched, a group of Narutos were struck down by one wielding a gigantic shuriken of wind, only for twice as many to take their place and destroy the attacker. Through the chaos, as he searched for the real Naruto, Goku noticed that they all bore red, raw eyes.

"Hey, Naruto!" Goku called. Almost instantly, all the Narutos stopped and glared in his direction. "Are you hungry? I brought lunch!" He held up a pair of covered Saiyan-sized ramen bowls to prove it.

The Narutos hesitated for a moment. Then they began dissipating. One by one, each shadow clone vanished in a cloud of smoke, until only the real Naruto remained in the distance, covered in dirt and grime, dried blood surrounding his mouth and numerous other small wounds on his body.

"Hey, Goku." Naruto jogged over. "Thanks." Joylessly, Naruto accepted the bowl and sat down on the side of the hill. Goku joined him. Together they opened their bowls and began eating.

For a long moment, they ate in silence. Then, Goku glanced over at Naruto. "Looks like your training's going good."

"Thanks," Naruto said quietly, avoiding his gaze. "I've been working almost non-stop for awhile now." He hesitated. "How… how is everybody doing?"

"Oh, they're fine. Chi-Chi's doing alright, Vegeta's being grumpy and short, same as always, and Pan… wow, you should see how big she's gotten. Pretty soon she'll be able to lift _me!_ "

"Glad to hear it." Naruto ground his knuckle into his eye as if trying to rub out a speck of dust, but his finger glistened as he lowered it.

Goku studied him. "So what's this all about? Everybody in the village says you're upset about something. What's going on?"

Naruto stayed silent for a minute. Then: "I screwed up, Goku. Worse than I ever did before. And there isn't a damn thing I can do to fix it."

Goku froze. "Naruto…"

Naruto raised his head, his eyes focusing on a jagged piece of wood a few meters away. "I'm guessing Grandma Tsunade told you what's been going on around here?"

"Just that there's a war going on now. Still can't believe how lucky you guys are." Naruto's eyes tightened sharply. Goku winced inwardly and looked away. "Sorry."

"Yeah, there's a war going on. Fourth Shinobi World War, if you can believe it. And we're lucky enough to be in the middle of it. It's been a little quiet around here, so Grandma Tsunade managed to get a lot of us sent back here. We're supposed to be protecting this area, but really we're just resting. At least for now."

Naruto sucked in a breath. "It all started awhile back. Remember Sasuke, the guy I told you about?"

"Yeah, Tsunade talked about him, too."

"Well, he never stopped causing trouble. He kept killing people, breaking all hell loose, you name it. But that's where I screwed up the first time: I didn't stop him while I could. I kept trying to bring him back and get him to turn good again, but it didn't work. Pretty soon, he got so strong nobody could touch him. He wouldn't even fight me anymore. He decided he was so far above me, fighting me would just be a waste of his time.

"Awhile after that, some crazy guy named Madara showed up and kept making noise and going on about how he wanted to make world peace. He turned out to be even worse than Sasuke. And since we didn't stop him, he got Sasuke to work with him. Everything got so bad that all the kages met at the 5 Kage Summit, but they attacked that, too. Sasuke even set the Raikage's whole body on fire with black flame that you can't put out."

"Is he okay?" Goku asked, slurping a noodle.

"Fortunately, he was able to run super fast and use the friction to burn off the top layer of his skin. He's fine, but that's where the good part ends. Madara declared war on the whole world, announcing that he was going to completely beat down everybody everywhere. And when there was nobody left to challenge him in the whole shinobi world, he was finally going to bring about world peace, whatever that means.

"Soon after that, the war started. The Pale Army exploded everywhere, backed up by the Deathless Legion, a small army of ninja that have been brought back from the dead under Madara's control. When the Pale Army kills somebody from our side that they like, they steal the body and resurrect it as another one of their soldiers."

"That's awful!"

Naruto nodded, picking up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks. "I was supposed to be sent off someplace where they couldn't get to me, but Kakashi-sensei got them to let me fight alongside everyone else.

"Anyway, Sasuke kept showing up on the battlefields and slaughtering our guys. Everybody said he had to die, but I wouldn't listen. I swore over and over that he was my friend, and that I wouldn't give up on him. Everyone told me I was wrong, and that they wouldn't help me. Even though I said that Sasuke was our comrade, and we couldn't abandon him, every one of them turned away from me. Everyone… except Hinata."

Goku searched his memory. "Hinata… that's Neji's sister, right?"

"Cousin, yeah." Naruto turned away, his bowl forgotten. "Hinata approached me when everybody else was gone. I still remember what she said to me on that day: 'I'll fight for you, Naruto. No matter what it takes, I'm going to stand by your side.'" Naruto's voice caught. The next day we set out to find Sasuke.

"Weeks passed. I dragged us all over the Nations looking for him. Over mountains, through storms, across oceans of corpses… I didn't care, as long as we could get to him. And through it all, Hinata never complained, not even once. And I never asked if she was tired, or miserable, or anything. Then, right when I was starting to lose hope, we found him.

"He was standing at the base of a pile of bodies he had made, watching it burn in that black fire I mentioned. Me and Hinata… we shouted at him that we were there to bring him back. But Sasuke just smirked at us. He looked at Hinata and said 'Looks like your pet got tired of stalking you from the sidelines.'

"We tried to convince him to come peacefully, but no matter what we said, he wouldn't listen. That's when I got desperate. I tried to force him to come back with us. And that's when all hell broke loose.

"We fought as hard as we could for longer than I can remember. I pulled out more Wind Rasenshuriken than I knew I could make, and I threw them all right in his face. Hinata… she gave it everything. In the middle of the fight, she did that flaming-lion-fist thing, the one that's her most powerful attack. She blasted Sasuke with it for a full minute, punching him so hard her arms were a blur.

"But he didn't even flinch. The whole time, he just stood there while she punched his chest over and over again, still wearing that damn smirk. Then when she was too tired to keep going, he just reached out and pushed her, and she went flying.

"I lost track of how long he kept screwing with us. But finally it happened.

"We were both finished, so exhausted we could barely stand. But Sasuke was still as strong as ever. The bastard moved in, still smirking. Hinata tried to raise her hand to hit him, but he just knocked it away. He moved behind her and grabbed her hair, forcing her head back. With his free hand he made a chidori. Hinata starting crying out to me, I can still see the tears streaming down her face. I begged Sasuke to stop, but he just looked at me and said 'After all this time, you still don't see how pathetic you are. You've failed everyone else. And now you've failed her.' My eyes met Hinata's. And as I watched, Sasuke tightened his grip, raised his hand, and…"

Naruto made a sobbing, choking noise, his body lurching uncontrollably. The ramen bowl on his lap fell to the ground and spilled. "I don't know how long I sat there holding her body, begging her to come back. But no matter how much I…" Naruto wiped his eyes and tried to compose himself. "Somehow I made it home with her body across my shoulders. And when I got there…

"The way everyone looked at me… I don't even know how to describe it. Neji was the worst. He glared at me like he wanted to skin me alive, but when I found him later, he was crying his eyes out where he thought no one would see him. And everyone else… it's like I wasn't even human anymore. And they all kept talking like I was missing something, but I didn't know what it was. And it was only later that learned the truth.

Goku held his breath as he watched helplessly.

"She _loved_ me, Goku," Naruto finally managed. "That's why she agreed to go with me. From the first day we met, she loved me. That's why she was always following me. That's why she always fainted when I was around. That's why she was always so nice to me when no one else was. Why didn't I see it before?" Not caring if Goku saw, Naruto buried his face in his hands.

Goku looked for a way to help. Hesitantly, he reached toward his friend, but stopped and awkwardly pulled his arm back, fighting the sense of helplessness that came with it.

Naruto reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Without turning, he held it over his shoulder, and Goku wordlessly accepted it. "Hinata's sister found this in her room." Goku opened the paper. Staring back at him was a remarkably well-drawn picture signed "Hinata Hyuuga" in the lower right corner. In the picture, Goku beheld what appeared to be older versions of Naruto and Hinata, smiling happily. With them were two small children. "Boruto. Himawari. She had already named our children. She was hoping that someday we'd get married and start a family and nothing would ever be wrong again…" Naruto's body convulsed as another sobbing, choking sound escaped him. After a minute he mumbled something too low for Goku to hear.

"What?"

"I said Neji was right," Naruto finally got out, trying in vain to stop. "I don't know if you know, but Neji's a big believer in fate. Years ago, during the Chunin exams, he told me how we were all doomed to an escapable fate from the moment we're born. I thought he'd gotten over it, but it never went away. He believes he's always going to be held back by his fate, and someday he's going to die because of it, no matter how much of that do-not-go-gently stuff he does. And when I brought back Hinata's body, he told me that he had always believed it would be her fate to die because of her devotion to me. And I could see it in his eyes: he wasn't lying.

"It's all my fault, Goku. The one person who ever really loved me is gone because of me."

Goku sat in stunned silence, not fighting the pressure he felt building behind his eyes. Unsure of what else to do, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around Naruto in a bear hug. Naruto hugged back, continuing to cry into Goku's shoulder without caring who might be watching.

"I wish I could do something," Goku whispered. "If I could bring her back, I'd do it in a second." He stopped himself from adding, _But I already talked to Dende. Whatever this place is, it's not part of my world. The dragons have no power here._ "I've made my own mistakes in battle before, so I know what it's like." _At least you never healed a powerful enemy and made your son fight him._ "So I'm here for you, always. You're my friend, Naruto, and no matter what happens, you'll always be my friend."

For a time, Naruto cried without restraint. Goku remained motionless as his friend released all of the sorrow he had been holding in. Eventually, Naruto got himself under control and disengaged from Goku. "I _know_ Sasuke has to be stopped. I _know_ that nothing is going to bring him back. But I can't beat him. He's too powerful, and there's nothing I can do to stop him from hurting everyone else I care about. If only I'd taken him down when I had the chance…"

Goku listened in silence. Slowly, he pulled his arms away from Naruto. Sucking in a breath, he clapped his friend on the shoulders as his face twisted into a glare. "I'll take care of him."

Naruto blinked away some tears. "What?"

"Go get yourself cleaned up. I'm putting an end to Sasuke's rampage. Today."

"Really? You'd do that?"

Goku pressed his own uneaten bowl of ramen into Naruto's hands. "I didn't know Hinata very well, but I'm not going to let Sasuke get away with hurting her or anyone else." Goku stood up. "So finish that ramen and go get some rest. It's my turn." Goku clenched his fists, savoring the cracking sound that came from his knuckles.

Naruto stared up at the Saiyan towering over him. "Goku, I…"

"Just one thing." Goku placed two fingers on his forehead. "I need to borrow your forehead."

"Huh?"

"You've been around Sasuke a lot, right? I need to search your mind for what his chakra feels like so I can find it."

"Oh, okay." Naruto let Goku place a hand on his forehead.

Goku searched for a moment. "Got it. Now go take care of yourself. It's time I met Sasuke." Without waiting for a reply, he adjusted his fingers, bowed his head, and vanished.


End file.
